1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system, and, more specifically, to a computer-implemented method, a data processing system, and a computer program product for programmatic message forwarding.
2. Description of the Related Art
Instant messaging or instant message (IM) tools are widely used by many people today. Instant message tools offer a variety of features and are available as products from many vendors, such as IBM® Lotus® Sametime®, available from International Business Machines Corporation, Yahoo! ®Messenger, available from Yahoo Incorporated and AOL Instant Messenger® (AIM), available from AOL LLC. Some of the services are available on mobile devices such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).
Currently, when a user is logged on to a computer using an instant message service and the user steps away from the computer, the instant message is displayed on the display screen, but is not seen by the user until the user returns. AOL Instant Messenger has a feature enabling instant message forwarding to be manually selected by the user. The drawback of this feature is that when the user steps away in a hurry, the user is not likely to select instant message forwarding. While the feature is available, the feature must be manually initiated which reduces the appeal and usefulness of the feature.
When the instant message is displayed without the user being at the display, an issue of privacy and security may result. Further, the user does not have the benefit of seeing the message when intended, which may have been the very purpose of the message.